The Pittsburgh Penguins and the St. Louis-based development firm McCormack Baron Salazar announced Thursday that they are ready to start development of the former Civic Arena site in the Lower Hill District, the former home of the Penguins.

The NHL team and developer submitted a letter of intent to the Pittsburgh-Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority (SEA) and the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to start the first phase of a 1,000-plus unit of residential development at the site that currently stands as a city commuter parking lot.